(i) Technical Field
The present invention relates to a heating and pressurizing device and an image forming apparatus.
(ii) Related Art
In recent devices for heating and pressurizing a medium, a pair of heating and pressurizing members, that is, a heating member for heating the medium and a pressurizing member for pressurizing the heating member, are provided. A contact pressure between the pair of heating and pressurizing members is increased to heat and pressurize the medium, and is decreased when the medium is not heated and pressurized.
During heating and pressurization of a thick medium, such as a thick paper, pressure concentrates at both ends of the thick paper in a direction intersecting a paper transport direction, as compared with heating and pressurization of a thinner paper. In such a case, it is preferable that the contact pressure, which is provided between a pair of heating and pressurizing members to heat and pressurize the thick paper, should be lower than when the thinner paper is heated and pressurized. It is preferable to properly change the contact pressure to a target contact pressure according to the type of medium.